Environmental change – from natural disasters to shifts in climate patterns which may bring glacial melt, sea level rise and desertification – is one of a larger set of factors that affect human migration and displacement worldwide. Environmental factors will particularly affect migration in and from highly vulnerable areas like low-lying islands and deltas, coastal areas, areas dependent on glacial-fed water systems and areas subject to persistent drought.  This report suggests most environmentally induced migrants will move within the borders of their own countries or to nearby countries. Only a small portion is likely to relocate to more distant countries. Some movements will resemble other migration aimed at improving people’s lives but other movements will likely occur under emergency circumstances, particularly where climate change exacerbates natural hazards, such as cyclones, and communal violence and conflict.

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